


The Case of the Tale-Spinners

by AshumiShah



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 02:53:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16589450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshumiShah/pseuds/AshumiShah
Summary: It should have been another run-of-the-mill adventure in time & space with the Doctor and the TARDIS. Donna and the Doctor land in 1990 England, and run into someone important - someone famous. She is responsible for the way we understand books, and fantasy, and magic, and of course - Hogwarts. Problem - she isn't famous yet. And someone wants to keep it that way!





	1. You Can Call Me 'Jo'

## Chapter 1

## The Doctor

 

I should like to attend a cotton candy buffet, the Doctor thought, among other things as his fingers hovered over the many buttons and levers and switches of the TARDIS. Considering the level of telepathy that the Ood displayed, maybe he ought to collaborate with them and learn from them in order to communicate better with the TARDIS. The machine, as if sensing this particular train of thought, let out a disgruntled ‘VWORP!’ as if to say, ‘don’t you go about tinkering with me, thief!’ And then there was that bit about The Simpsons – why were they so yellow? Was suffering from jaundice the ‘cool’ thing back on planet Amanopia, for that’s where the show runner was from. Their skin colour turned from a brilliant blue to a sickening yellow when they found themselves riddled with the aforementioned disease. What was it with the dematerialising control of the TARDIS? It was making not-pleasing sounds. Maybe he should tune it to Beethoven’s Ninth when it was in action – oh again that ‘VWORP’ from the TARDIS. To say the machine was getting rather touchy these days was like saying, ‘Oh the Daleks are all right, except they kill you’. It might seem rather odd to me and you that one could be thinking about such diverse, some seemingly silly and other rather scientific-genie-type things all at the same time, but it was a perfectly normal activity for the Doctor, with his wibbly wobbly brain being able to handle it with remarkable efficiency. And then of course, there was that bit about Donna talking.

 

He looked over at her across the console, giving her a conspiratorial smile and wink as he pulled a lever and with more than just what you would call a slight jerk or a small slip, the TARDIS zoomed away, crashing about the waves of the time vortex like that message secured in a glass bottle, waiting to kiss the shore and reach perhaps an unintended recipient. Oh well that described the TARDIS accurately, and yet not at all. It was all very romantic in the Doctor’s head – and why shouldn’t it be? He could afford to be romantic on certain days and a Debbie Downer on others, although the latter was certainly hard to do with Donna around, smacking the back of his head and setting him straight with a rambunctious, ‘Oi! Spaceman!’ like any best friend would. Finally, the TARDIS landed, God alone knows where, if there is a God, with a thump and whoosh, and Donna continued to talk as the Doctor considered his response to her question.

 

## Donna

 

“Where are we this time?” Donna asked, her mind bubbling with the kind of excitement that one would observe when a child is experiencing a sugar rush, and then with a rapid follow up question, “Also, when are we?”

 

She still couldn’t quite get used to that. Or this. This whole thing. Blimey! She was traveling through space and time for quite a few months now with The Doctor, and it was all so diverse, all so remarkable. A pity she couldn’t brag about it to Nerys. Or even her mother. A little payback would have been nice for all those times of doubt and the lack of belief. Oh well, never mind, maybe one day she’d run into Brad Pitt and that would make up for it all. Just as the adventures with the Doctor do. It was exactly as he had promised – never a dull day! And then there was the slight engagement in the wishful thinking – that all of the running she did with the Doctor would somehow show. But then she wondered if she really cared. ‘Nah,’ she thought. She was already having the time of her life and hoped it would never end.

 

The Doctor was already headed for the TARDIS doors, skipping away in his sneakers, talking rapidly as Donna kept up. “Earth,” he remarked. “England, early 1990.”

 

If it wasn’t for the paradox thingamajig that the Doctor kept talking about – no really, he talked about it a lot – she would pop in to see her younger self, pat her own back, get her a giant kitkat and say, “Oh you just wait for all the brilliant things you will see!” And then of course she’d talk to Gramps about it all, and maybe even see his telescope in its younger years. Oh, and to remind herself to not date Josh. Or Andrew. Or Darren. Or Lance. Basically, not date at all. No no, that didn’t mean a vow of celibacy – she could be as naughty as she liked. But really she had had enough of chasing aliens or being chased by aliens (and her boyfriend/fiancé) in her wedding dress for a lifetime.

 

She looked around, clueing herself in on her surroundings, and realised they were in Manchester. At one time she would have wanted to pop into the mall, engage in – what was the opposite of minimalism? Maximalism? Well, consumerism anyway – and buy herself… things. Not now, not since the Doctor. Now it was about the next adventure, the next time she heard him yell, ‘RUN!’ and those delicious toffee apples that tasted like chocolate chip cookie dough – really she ought to have the recipe – from the last planet they visited. She wondered what excitement awaited them this time round when she observed a young girl who was carrying way too many things stumble as she walked, and in the process drop some of them. Donna rushed to help her, taking in her light, wavy golden hair, her denim jacket and simple, casual manner as she turned to say thanks to Donna and the Doctor, who of course, rushed to her aid as well. There was something familiar about this girl’s face, something she couldn’t quite place.

 

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at the pair of strangers who helped her. And then of course, the Doctor being the Doctor, asked a question that might seem strange, but you couldn’t quite put a finger on the strangeness of the query. “Not a bit!” he quipped in his upbeat voice. “Sorry, don’t mean to delay you but what month is it?”

 

It was a second of confusion, Donna observed, as she took in the girl’s bemused smile. Her face brightened as she quipped, “Had a bit much to drink, did you?”

 

“Just a tad, my friend here is a wild one,” the Doctor retorted, grinning wildly as Donna gave him a look that said, ‘You will pay for this’.

 

“It’s June,” she answered warmly.

 

And Donna’s brain was already whirling with the possibilities and the number of reasons why they landed here, in this particular place and this particular time. She also tried very hard to place the familiarity of this girl’s face somewhere in her memory where it would make sense, and failed miserably. She couldn’t help herself from saying, “And everything is fine, yeah? No one screaming like a banshee. No green monsters walking about. It’s all good, yeah?”

 

Now the girl looked baffled as she gave Donna a once-over. “More than just a wild party, that must have been,” she said, “for you to be asking such odd questions. Green monsters and banshees? Next thing you will be asking about vampires and werewolves.”

 

Donna’s ears perked up at that and her heart gave a flutter of excitement. Would they be the scary kinds from horror movies or the sparkly kind straight out of young adult fiction novels? Honestly, she’d prefer the former so that she wouldn’t empty the contents of her stomach and can go on to be more badass than Buffy. “Vampires and werewolves?” she asked. “Are there any?”

 

“Of course not,” the girl gave a quiet chuckle. “That must have been a pretty strong drink” she said, as she juggled the many things she was holding – her handbag, another few bags, a small pile of books, a rectangular pouch, and a cup of coffee. It was all precariously balanced, and the Doctor, being the Doctor, offered to help carry it to – well, wherever, he’d carry it for someone to mars, if he had to – her apartment, which she said was not too far. You could see she was glad for the help but at the same time didn’t want to inconvenience two kind strangers.

 

“Oh it’s no bother!” the Doctor quipped, handling some of her many bags while Donna took the books as the girl guided them to her apartment. Reaching her doorstep, she offered them a glass of water or lemonade – which Donna gladly accepted for she was parched.

 

“I’m Donna, by the way, and this is the Doctor,” she said, gratefully accepting the cool glass of water.

 

“Doctor who?” the girl asked. If only Donna would get a pound for every time she heard that! Well, you could only wish for so much – and time in the TARDIS was good enough.

 

The Doctor smiled as he said, “Just the Doctor”, shaking her hand, and then asked, “and you are…?”

 

The girl shook his hand and said, “Oh, I’m Joanne. But you can call me Jo.”

 

And that was when it hit her, as Donna put two and two together. She had read the nameplate at the door of the building, as they had helped the girl with the books and bags. “No way!” Donna breathed, barely curbing her excitement. “You’re J.K. Rowling!”


	2. The Leak

## The Doctor

“K? There’s no K. I have no middle name,” Jo replied, her face taking on a look of confusion. The illuminating smile that lit up the Doctor’s face reminded one of a child who is, without the restriction or the understanding of money - what’s the expression - ah, let loose in Disneyland. He once again, with enough enthusiasm to scare off a date, shook the young girl’s hand.

 

“Jo!” He exclaimed, in a slightly high pitched voice that gave away his ecstasy, “it’s so very lovely to meet you, Jo! You’re marvellous, you are!” And all of this while trying to compare the Newtonian laws of physics with those of Dormiens. Oh the debate they would have about gravity would make scientists want to punch the air and throw a rave!

 

“Oh well, I wouldn’t quite say that,” Jo answered with a bright smile of her own. “Oh hi there, Marcie,” she then greeted a neighbour passing by, with two children on her trail.

 

“Oh but you are! Absolutely marvellous!” The Doctor went on, making Jo blush. Well, his mind was indeed made up by the marvel that was the persona of Joanne Rowling, and there were few things in the universe that might change that.

 

Audible fireflies, he then mused, as his mind worked in all those wonderful directions with minimum effort. Fireflies that emanate a natural sound that is musical - oh those would be lovely! Perhaps he’d even request one to join him and Donna in the TARDIS. Oh he really ought to find out if such a being existed - they’d be absolutely delightful!

 

## Donna

 

With the utterly alien-like handshaking enthusiasm of the Doctor making Jo feel a teensy but weirded out, Donna felt it was time to intervene. Oh she was good at intervening - temps needed to do it all the time. Boss needs out from a boring conference, Donna intervened. Tiff between mum and Gramps - Donna intervened. Nerys going on about her latest acquisition from the footwear department of Saks - Donna intervened. Doctor close to creeping out the greatest author of fantasy fiction of the 21st century - Donna intervened.

 

“Oh he says that to everyone. Every morning greets his newspaper delivery fellow with a ‘you’re marvellous!’ Don’t mind him at all, he’s only occasionally unhinged and mostly harmless” Donna stated matter-of-factly. Ha! This was payback for his ‘she’s a wild one’ comment earlier. She did sometimes wonder if the Doctor and she would retain this juvenile teasing forever, and the answer came to her all too quickly - yes, yes they would.

 

She still couldn’t quite believe that she was standing at J. K. Rowling’s doorstep! Oh this was amazing! Although she did have to wonder if seeking out famous writers and artists was a fetish thing on part of the Doctor. First Agatha Christie, and now Rowling. Well, she wasn’t one to complain, especially if she could joke about a bit and of course, the royalties.

 

“Felt like writing something lately, Jo? Something magical?” Donna inquired, ignoring the disdainful looks the Doctor was shooting her way, as if to indicate ‘no, no. Cut it out.”

 

“Writing?” Jo asked, retaining her baffled look. “Not since that paper on Hades and Persephone in college” she replied.

 

“Oh well,” Donna couldn’t quite help herself. “You should consider it. Writing. And magic. Maybe there’s even a school in the story-”

 

“What Donna means...” the Doctor cut her off, which was quite rude, since she was soon going to get to the royalty bit. “...she quite enjoys writing. She’s planning to start a writers’ club of her own though. Probably call it Ravenclaw or something. Anyway, thank you for the water, but we should be off-” and then the Doctor too was interrupted by a loud ‘Clang!’ that seemed to come from inside the apartment.

 

“Oh it’s that damn leak again!” Jo exclaimed, an unpleasant look on her face.

 

“What kind of a leak makes a sound, except ‘drip drip drip’?” Donna asked. She’d had her fair share of nightmare-ish leaks in the past. God bless the leak-free TARDIS.

 

“Not a clue,” Jo answered. “I had a plumber check it out a few days ago. He couldn’t figure it either. Said he’d contact his supervisor about getting in an expert to have it looked at.”

 

“Oh yes! The expert! That’s me. Us. Leak experts” the Doctor exclaimed with a level of enthusiasm that was not normal for plumbers. With a flourish he whipped out his psychic paper and showed it to Jo.

 

“Dr. Fix-It?” Jo read, raising a single eyebrow with as much amusement as suspicion lining her beautiful face.

 

“Really?!” The Doctor said with disbelief, turning to look at the psychic paper himself. “Oh well your imagination can do certainly better than that, Jo! Anyway, can’t dwell on things yet to happen! Let’s go have a peak at the leak shall we? Peak at the leak! Oh I quite like that. Peak-a-leak.”

 

Jo’s facial expression was one of an individual giving a mental shrug and accepting the Doctor’s eccentricities as she lead the way to the kitchen. Donna and the Doctor trailed her, whispering excitedly to each other.

 

“It’s Rowling!” Donna exclaimed.

 

“I know!” the Doctor grinned, as they high-fived each other. “But we have to be careful, Donna. She hasn’t started writing yet, and won’t be done for at least a couple of years. We can’t change the-”

 

“The course of history” Donna finished for him. “I know, I know. You’ve issued me the disclaimer more than once.”

 

“More importantly, you were right. Leaks aren’t the sound-making kind. I have a feeling this is going to be unpleasant. We can’t exactly scream ‘expelliarmus!’ at it. Let’s have a look.”

 

They followed Jo into a slightly cramped yet cosy kitchen. It was warm and inviting, but for that nasty, wet-looking blob that was on the counter next to the oven stove. “I’m guessing that’s the leak you’re talking about,” Donna ventured.

 

“That’s the one. I don’t understand though. It has no source. I cleaned it up once, and it was there again the next day.”

 

The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the ‘leak’. A quick look of comprehension and also confusion passed his face as he checked the readings on the sonic.

 

“Do you live here alone, Jo?” The Doctor asked.

 

“No, with my boyfriend, Mark. He’s at work now, though.”

 

“And Mark’s not an alien, I hope,” Donna couldn’t resist. She really ought to filter her words sometimes.

 

“He’s British, if that’s what you’re asking,” Jo replied, slightly confused.

 

“Ah well, not alien enough,” Donna quipped.

 

Jo was about to inquire about Donna’s question when her doorbell rang. She excused herself to answer it. Donna turned to look at the Doctor, who was continuing to examine and scan the ‘leak’.

 

“I gather it’s not unicorn droppings. Care to share with the class?”

 

The Doctor continued to eye the ‘leak’ as he explained, “that’s radiating polonic energy. Radioactive stuff from galaxies away. It’s not good. It’s not good at all.” He looked seriously at Donna.

 

“So... aliens and J.K. Rowling?” she asked, with barely concealed excitement.

 

The Doctor grinned widely, as if Christmas had arrived early. “Aliens and J.K. Rowling,” he confirmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Appreciation is welcome - as is constructive criticism. Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Appreciation is always welcome - as is constructive criticism. Thank you for reading!


End file.
